The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 4 eBook

I hoped to see him when he returned, but was not destined
to do so until two years later.

Before relating my unexpected meeting with him in
1881, I must describe a certain somewhat remarkable
case which I was so fortunate as to have put into
my hands shortly after my return from the country.

II.

It was one day in October that a distinguished-looking
gentleman of about fifty-five entered my office, introduced
himself as Mr. Crabshaw, and asked me to take the
following case.

An old woman named Nancy Blake had recently died in
Virginia, leaving a large amount of property.
This Nancy Blake had lived for over half a century
all alone, and almost entirely secluded. She had
left neither will nor near relatives, and the question
was, who is her nearest of kin? My visitor informed
me that long ago he had known of the existence of
an eccentric woman in Virginia,—­a great-aunt
of his now deceased wife. Nothing had been heard
from her, however, for twenty-five years, and it was
supposed that she was dead; but he had just received
information that led him to believe in the identity
of the old lady Blake with the aforementioned great-aunt.
If the relationship could be established, then his
daughter Cecilia would be the true heir. Her claim
had been brought to the attention of the court, and
she bad been informed that there was another claimant.
Would I undertake the case? After a long talk
with Mr. Crabshaw, I decided that I would do so.
I agreed to call at his house the next day and have
another talk with him, and also meet his daughter,
preparatory to my trip to Virginia.

Mr. Crabshaw, who, as I subsequently learned, was
descended from an English family which had been represented
in this country for two generations only, lived in
the famous and once aristocratic quarter of Boston
known as West End. A short residence on our republican
soil had done little to Americanize the Crabshaw family,
who lived in true English style. The household
consisted only of Mr. Crabshaw and his one daughter,
Cecilia, and a small retinue of servants, although
he was not possessed of any very large wealth.
My first meeting with Miss Crabshaw was at once a
pleasure and a surprise; the first because she was
a most charming young lady, and the latter because
she was the original of the picture shown me a few
months before by Christopher Gault. I did not
mention the coincidence, however, but proceeded directly
to the business in hand. Miss Cecilia was an
exceedingly sensible and intelligent young lady and
I could get more needed information in ten minutes
from her than in half an hour from the old gentleman.

The last time that I met Mr. Crabshaw before going
to Virginia, I mentioned having met Mr. Gault the
summer before.

“You got acquainted with him then, did you?
I am very glad to know it. He is a fine young
man—­a very estimable fellow, sir. I
have always known the family, and always liked Christopher.
As you are very likely aware, he thinks a great deal
of Cecilia, and she is a pretty firm friend of his.
Now that is all very well, sir, as long as they don’t
get sentimental, or anything of that kind.”